Untitled - WWF - Pakistan

Detailed Ecological Assessment Report 2008 – Keenjhar Lake
lake which is urgently required at the moment as the fish stock is depleted
and there is no natural recruitment through K. B. branch. The lake
requires 2,500,000 mixed fish seed annually to meet the present fishing
pressure.
• Escape of fish seed from the Lake: The lake has an open out let in the
form of the canal supplying water to the city of Karachi. Most part of the
fish seed that is put in the lake by the fisheries department is escaped
from the lake through this canal. As the lake is not being naturally
recruited and a major part of the seed stocked by the fisheries department
is also escaped, then where from the fish will come in the lake and it will
definitely result into a situation which is presently being faced by the
fishermen community in the Keenjhar Lake.
3.5.6.2 Recommendations
• Direct flow of the Canal into the lake: The faces of link canal should be
separated from the lake and in the, breeding season and water from the
main Indus River should be directly released into the lake. Plenty of
natural fish seed is neral1y present in the river water during this season,
which is healthy and suitable to grow easily than the artificial seed.
• Prevent lake from industrial Waste: To prevent the lake from the
pollution and supplying the pure drinking water to Karachi, it is necessary
to prevent lake from the toxic material of Kotri and Nooriabad Industrial
area. If the toxic material released by these industrial area keeps on
continuously mixing with the water of Keenjhar lake, it can cause great
harm to the human population on one hand and the aquaculture and the
live stocks on the, other hand.
• Elimination of water weeds/useless grasses: With the growth of
Australian parasitical plant and other useless grasses water is
deoxygenated causing great loss to the aquaculture and fish growth and
health. An increase in pollution in the lake will decrease the fish which will
cause a decline in the number of migratory birds.
• Establishing fish nurseries on the banks of lake: It is necessary to
build the fish nurseries on the banks of lake and annually five million fish
seed must he released into the lake because many fish species have
almost become extinct. Fishermen communities do not find the fish
species even for eating purpose which in past was regularly exported to
England, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other countries. It is necessary that
the fish nurseries be established on the banks of the lake to release a
substantial quantity of fish seeds every year in the lake so that a
sustainable exploitation of the resource could be made possible.
• Installation iron nets at the outlet: Installation of iron nets are important
on the outlet of the canals running out the lake because if some of the
seed from the river comes into the canal by chance or if some seed is
stocked by the fisheries department, it is escaped from the lake.
• Awareness through community: An awareness about the wise use of
fish resources, consequences of overexploitation of fisheries resources,
use of illegal fishing gears, fishing in breeding season and rehabilitation of
lake needs to be started through the mosques, community based
organizations, fisher folk organization and through the local governments.
WWF Pakistan – Indus for All Programme Page 68 of 165